Tibetans seeking justice for man beaten by local Indians

Tibetans are petitioning to get justice for an elderly Tibetan man who was allegedly beaten by 12 local Indians within the premises of the Central Tibetan Administration on the night of 14 December.

It is alleged that the man was knocked unconscious with his nasal bones fractured, as well as a fractured leg.

At the time of reporting, the petition has gained over 900 supporters. The petition was set up today on the website Change.org by a Tibetan man named Kalsang.

The petition called for Superintendent of Police, Dharamshala Santosh Patial, Divisional Commissioner Rajiv Kumar Shankar, and Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar to book the miscreants and bring justice to the victim.

The supporters contend that there is ample evidence to base an arrest of the culprits. They have said that it has been three days since the incident, but no arrests have been made so far.

Kalsang has written that, “It would be easy to catch them by using the vehicle number provided by the victim’s wife, along with footage from CCTV.”

It is written that the Tibetan man was on his way to pick up his wife who has a restaurant at the nearby CTA gate. He was beaten up by taxi drivers who were drinking in their taxis parked within the premises of the Central Tibetan Administration.

His wife has reported the numbers of two of the taxis to the authorities.

Comments

There are 13 comments so far.

Gaddis are the indigenous people and normally not attacking Tibetans. My experience is indians who come to Dharamshala for economic advancement attack Tibetans and demand bakshish.

Dharamshala had a few stores and if you needed more you had to go to Kangra. Over the years Tibetans faced two realities.

The rich and connected lived in a world of the rule of law. The poor Tibetans were bullied and extorted.

So much progress and so much prayers and rituals to keep Dharamshala from being destroyed by earthquakes and greed.

But ordinary Tibetans continue to be subjected to programs.

12.

AamAdmi says:on 20 December 2018 at 9:34 pm

Cowardly act of beating up an elderly man by 12 people. Shame on them. The Tibetan administration must pursue this with full determination. Can we assume it as a hate crime or do they give some reason behind the act?

11.

Ashish says:on 20 December 2018 at 9:15 pm

Hello Tibetan brothers and sisters, why are you making fuss on this incident. These kind of incidents happen daily in India in every city. You have to be aggressive and kick the ass of bullies. Surviving in India is not easy you have to fight. God bless Tibetans and thanks Tibetans for choosing India for exile. Tibetans are best refugees and best people in India. And last no need for events like “thank you india” instead we Indians have to say “thank you Tibetans”

10.

Tenzin Tashi says:on 21 December 2018 at 1:27 am

Asish, Whether you like or not – Locals get lot of benefits because of Tibetans’ presence. I have personally seen huge development as well because of our presence. So why beating such normal people. Remember if Tibetans go out of Dharamsala, then things will be back to that of those in 1960s. Why can’t we live happy together.

9.

Khampa Warrior, from USA, says:on 20 December 2018 at 8:03 pm

Isn’t this one of core responsibilities of Nangsi Kalon Sonam Topgyal who is so inept, couldn’t prevent it from happening under his nose within the CTA compound. Besides there was a cyclone disaster in Odisha Tibetan settlement just months ago and flooding problem in Manali, haven’t heard a word what Nangsi Kalon did to mitigate the suffering of those poor Tibetans. May be Mr. Sonam Topygal was busy building his much discredited retirement quarters in Bylakuppe. And what happened to all the money CTA spend to “Thank you India” in Dharamsala and all other places in India. When inept people grabs illegitimate posts, disasters follow every now and then.

8.

Palden Dorjee, from Dal Lake, says:on 20 December 2018 at 1:33 pm

thank you inidia… for this long refugee status given to us but with the same we must know the truth how Dharamshala came on the world map as a Tourist spot!!!??? We should also know how Dharamshala, McLoed Ganj and Dal lake area improved. More over Tibetans are showing lots of patience to many bullying acts by locals. So in brief Why there is no JUSTICE to our brother who is in hospital even with all those proves??? We should not allow these taxi stand inside as well in front of the CTA Main Gate. If you see at Indian officers office and residence, we are not even allowed to walk or pass through their gate without proper reason but we can see at CTA GATE where our President as well as parliament members and other gazetted officers passing but no one shows respect and even sometimes our officers are struck in the traffic made by these taxis. So why Indian government or Himachal Government is not solving this problem. We strongly need justice to this recent attack as well as taxi stand at Gangkyi should be closed.

7.

Mila, from Manhattan, says:on 20 December 2018 at 1:09 pm

Tibetans never learn: Gaddis never change.

6.

Gangchenpa, from Phoenix , says:on 20 December 2018 at 9:06 am

When I came to Dharamshala Tibetans found a remote area made remote by earthquakes and lack of economic opportunities.

The nearest offices and big shops were in Kangra.

Dharamshala, east Punjab, district Kangra, was the mailing address.

As Tibetans made economic progress some local Indians made common cause with communal criminals and political agent provocateurs to beat and rob Tibetans at will.

This unfortunately has not been addressed.

5.

Nima Sangpo, from Dharamshala, says:on 20 December 2018 at 8:55 am

” Thank You India ” for being so supportive to the Tibetans in exile. This is a collective response from Indians.

Despite overarching and wide “Thank You India” programme extended by CTA and Tibetan people more intensively at Dharamsala, that’s what we received in return from Taxi drivers of Gangkyi.

If the victim is Tenzin Dhedan la of DIIR, then I must say he is such an innocent and well behaved man. He shouldn’t have been a victim. Moreover, this is signalling of expression of local Taxi driver’s show of strength against one???

3.

Kerry, from Sydney, says:on 20 December 2018 at 4:19 am

I am deeply saddened to hear this. It would be good if all the other local taxi drivers spoke up. This is a serious crime, and a sign that something is very wrong re behaviour and some attitudes in this local area. We have all known for some time of some poor behaviours and dangers. What a shock for this elderly man and his family. Right action must be taken to ensure safety in this sadly overcrowded hilltown. Perhaps it would have been better to keep it sacred and local/original than to try to cram so many vested interests and mass Indian tourism and far too many big cars and hundreds of taxis (and gamblers) all in one culturally treasured place. It does not make sense to kill the golden goose and leave everyone unhappy when there are so many other hills. Dharamsala is known and famous globally but in these last years things have deteriorated. Rethinking development for local and family tourism (and more eco forms of transport) as North India heats up is perhaps a timely and good idea.

2.

daveno says:on 19 December 2018 at 11:34 pm

normally we put a ‘gate’ behind scandals, such as ‘Watergate’ during Nixon. But since this case involves an actual gate, how shall we formulate the thing?

1.

Tenzin kalsang, from London, says:on 19 December 2018 at 8:14 pm

Seriously, it is too much. They killed one Tibetan boy near bagsu road last year and now beat up Tibetan elderly. I think the Dalai Lama should seriously think about moving to another state.
I hope these police will catch the criminals. I am pretty sure these criminal will get away because most of the local police and local taxi drivers are some how related and let these crimes happened.
Anyway, I think Tibetan people living in Dharamsala should seriously think about relocation.